With a dash of accomplishment, a gallon of surprise, and a full tank of humble pie it hit me that WineZag is now six months old. This project has surpassed my original expectations for social media immersion and continued promotion of wine as a lubricant for human connection without bias. Thanks to the thousands that visit every month and the […]
Cab Franc and Falanghina With Roots
I can only tolerate an hour, or so, of tasting through large portfolios at crowded trade events. With an air of desperation, I scurry to discover a new wine or two representing a commensurate quality and value reward for immersing in this tasting format’s inherent nest of inconvenience. My schedule had me in Boston simultaneous with the Loire Valley Wine Bureau tasting at the Taj […]
A Road Side Bomb
The Executive Wine Seminar‘s showcase of 2005 Bordeaux in New York City was arguably the most significant tasting event of last week. It combined three highlight characteristics including, Robert Parker’s customary attendance, some of the best wines from the heralded vintage, and the excellent organization and format that EWS founders Howard Kaplan and Robert Millman continue to orchestrate. Yet, with the signature effect of a roadside bomb intended for Parker’s motorcade, Tyler […]
Wine Economics: A Consumer and Critic Weigh In
I have been in a digital desert for the last week, dealing with computer problems compounded by a stretch of travel without a laptop. Please excuse the brief WineZag siesta and take a quick few steps back with me to follow up on a previous WineZag post on runaway Bordeaux prices getting in the way of reasonable […]
Rice and a Bottle of Magic
One of the top five things that intrigues me about wine is the natural transformation of grapes, a sugary, fleshy, pit-ty, skin-ny, and well….grape-y, snack-y treat into a serious and complex beverage whose flavors and aromas are described in terms that have no resemblance to the bunches of flesh and juice that hung off the vine. While dedicated followers of the grape grow, make, […]
Bordeaux Sucker Punch Ruins Wine Independence for All
Catching up on some overdue reading during the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, I was struck by a disconnect between two really interesting pieces of material. Wine enthusiasts face significant challenges that threaten a pronouncement of clipped shackles found in the primarily good spirited and reflective recent Alder Yarrow “Declaration of Independence” . Enthusiasts continue to be repressed by a profound problem, overlooked in Yarrow’s celebration of expanding wine availability and information sharing, and inadvertently demonstrated in Robert […]
90 Points of Costco Wine
It seems legitimate to me that Costco, operating at an incredibly low 0.2% retail margin, seeks maximum turns and sales volume for its entire inventory. As a big box, non specialty retailer chasing lowest possible SGA expense in a declining sales environment, Costco leans on merchandising advantages like brand names and informational signage as strategy elements to turbo power sales volume. So, if Costco wine […]
When Lafite Meets Jiaozi
In case your catalogue never arrived, you can rest assured that the first fine wine auction ever held on mainland Chinese soil went off without a hitch this weekend in Beijing. A case of 1989 Petrus and 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild sold for 320,000 yuan each ($US 47,000) and an imperiale of 1979 Chateau Latour sold for 32,000 […]
Ferran Adria Dares Beer to be Wine
Is beer wine when it goes through a second fermentation in the bottle? Is wine really beer when it retains characteristics that are best enjoyed without food. And, might beer qualify as wine when it is flexible enough to pair with opposite and conflicting flavors across one meal? These all seem like meaningless technicalities when Ferran Adria and […]
WSJ Misses in Coverage of Wine Advocate and Industry Problems
David Kesmodel jumped on the “Attack Parker and His Wine Advocate Ethics” bandwagon in today’s May 26 Personal Journal section of the Wall Street Journal. That is not surprising in this code riddled era of business and media coverage. Of course, this is a matter that must be settled between wine aficionados and Mr. Parker. Wine Advocate […]
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